2014 BART Candidate Nick Josefowitz

Candidate Facts

Candidate Questionnaire

Last month, all official candidates for the BART Board of Directors were contacted and given the opportunity to answer our Candidate Questionnaire. Any candidate responses edited for length and clarity have been marked as such.

1. Do you ride a bicycle in the city?

Yes

2. If yes, for what purpose(s) and how often? How do you most commonly commute to work?

I bike several times a week, to get to work, for recreation, and to go shopping. Before I started campaigning, which threw off my commute, I would commute to work by bike, bus, or car. Sometimes, I would even walk the 45-minutes from my home to my office.

3. The City has established a goal to at least double the number of bike trips in the next 4 years. Do you support this goal?

Yes

If yes, what would you do as Supervisor to help the city realize it?

I would work to install far better bike infrastructure in and around BART stations, which especially means more, and more secure, bike parking at stations. I would work to increase bike share options around the stations, and I would make sure trains have ample space for all bike riders to transport their bicycles on BART.

4. This Fall, voters will have the chance to support the Transportation and Road Safety Bond. This bond supports $500 million of work to improve the city’s transit systems and make our roadways safer for all users, with a focus on improved bikeways and pedestrian safety. Will you publicly support and actively campaign for this measure?

Yes

5. Also this Fall, voters will be presented with a ballot measure called Policy Regarding Transportation Priorities Declaration of Policy or “Transportation Balance”, which aims to weaken San Francisco’s long-time Transit-First policy, and send more of our City’s scarce resources to further subsidize parking to the detriment of other, well-established priorities, including transit and the safety of people walking and biking. Will you support Transit-First and Vision Zero by publicly and actively opposing the Policy Regarding Transportation Priorities Declaration?

Yes

6. District 8 includes Balboa Park, Embarcadero and Montgomery Stations, which are all on critical bike networks but lack safe and comfortable connections by bike. As a BART Board member, would you support improvements on streets identified as key bike routes to BART stations, even if in some cases may include removal of existing on-street parking or traffic lanes?

Yes

7. More specifically, do you support each of the following projects?

Second Street, with a protected bikeway, removal of turn pockets and minor parking removal Yes

Embarcadero, with the current planning process to design a protected bikeway to build upon our world-class waterfront Yes

8. Many Bay Area residents depend on being able to bring their bikes on transit, which gives more options for where you live, work, shop and more. Over the next four years, BART will be designing, testing and finalizing the new car designs. This gives a unique opportunity to improve bicycle access on BART. Do you support the following improvements?

Bicycle racks on all new BART cars Yes

Increasing or maintaining current space allocated for bikes on BART (currently two spaces per car) Yes

9. As the region’s population grows and in particular, San Francisco faces many challenges of how to move people around the city. With our city’s Transit First policy in mind, what do you consider to be the greatest transportation problem facing the City and what solutions do you propose?

We have so many transportation challenges. As BART Director, one I’d immediately focus on is improving connectivity and coordination between the many transportation modes and agencies by which we get around our city: MUNI, BART, Caltrain, ferry, driving, walking and, of course, cycling. For example, we need to prioritize building bicycle infrastructure – bike lanes, secure bike parking, bike share stations – around major transit hubs and especially around BART stations.

10. Have you championed or strongly supported any other initiatives that are in line with the SF Bicycle Coalition’s mission of promoting bicycling for everyday transportation?

I’ve been an SFBC member and active supporter since I moved to San Francisco. I volunteered to help bring bike lanes to Polk St, and helped coordinate my synagogue’s first Bike to Worship Week. I have strongly supported the California Bicycle Coalition. I co-authored an influential review of Caltrans, which identified systematic problems in how the agency dealt with cyclists and cycling infrastructure. The report helped spur much needed action in Sacramento.